


One Step Forward (No Steps Back)

by hwe (plumroot)



Series: Birthday Babes [2]
Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: M/M, summary: junhwe's trying to be all chic and shit and donghyuk loves a bit of chic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 19:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13255302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plumroot/pseuds/hwe
Summary: It's very brief and almost fleeting, but when Donghyuk turns around he sees Junhwe's lips curl into a smile. It's nice. It suits him, Donghyuk thinks. And, inevitably, his heart flutters.





	One Step Forward (No Steps Back)

**Author's Note:**

> So... surprise! In Those Days was actually a side-story to a Detective!Junhwe jundong au I've been mulling over. There are mentions of a town called Sangdong a lot, and I should say now that it is based on a real town but nearly all of it is fictionalised for my sake LMAO.
> 
> And yes, I wholly write this in honour of #BeautifulDonghyukDay so if it's bad....,.,. feel free to kill me lol

It's not the first time Donghyuk has fallen asleep behind the front desk, reading glasses sliding down the bridge of the nose and cup of tea on the table no longer steaming, but it's the first time he wakes up in the middle of his nap so suddenly that his entire body jolts, the book on his lap falling to the floor. It's the doorbell that gets him, and he should probably blame Hanbin for that. His brother had indeed successfully fixed the broken doorbell, as he had insisted he could, but somehow the chime is at least four times louder than it was yesterday. And he's only noticing now that is has rudely woken him from his sleep.

       Donghyuk is expecting seconds of ringing deafness in his ears to follow, but it never comes. Instead, he registers heavy rainfall battering the roof. A crack of thunder. He wonders how he slept through that. He bends over to pick up his book, dusting the cover, and then looks up to see who has stepped inside the motel lobby.

       Oh, it's _him._ He stands by the door, shaking his umbrella outside and trying to wipe the rain off his black coat.

       "Detective Koo? Here, let me get the umbrella. I'll put it by the heater and it'll dry in no time. I can take your coat too."

       The taller male turns in surprise, and blinks. "Oh. Thanks." He hands Donghyuk his glistening transparent umbrella, and then after a moment of contemplation also strips off his outer layer and passes it to him.

       "Early night?" Donghyuk asks, draping the expensive-feeling piece of clothing carefully over the warm heater. It's only 11pm. For the first few nights, the detectives returned to the lodging well after midnight. That was when the 5-year-old child of Sangdong's police chief went missing, suspected kidnapping. It was the first time something of this kind had happened in a place like Sangdong, with a community so small and tightly knit. It felt like the entire town was collectively holding a breath, anxiously waiting for any news. It took two days to find Jeongguk. The entire town let out a sigh of relief. Donghyuk remembers his brother-in-law, who has a son about the same age as Jeongguk, crying when he heard the news. So, for all the negative stereotyping of police from Seoul, they did their job. It was on the very day they were scheduled to return to Seoul that a body was found in the mountains.  Since then, it has been late nights again.

       "More or less," the detective responds, and then leaves it at that. He bows slightly to Donghyuk and then heads towards the staircase.

       "Have you eaten yet, Detective?"

       "Sorry?" He has stopped in his tracks.

       "I can fix you something, if you want. I cooked for Detective Song and Detective Jung when they came back earlier complaining that they were starving, so I'm assuming you haven't eaten either." Donghyuk thinks he sees a look of hesitation cross the other male's face. "It's not good to skip meals, Detective."

       "It's quite late… I wouldn't want to bother you."

       "Who says you're the only one who's hungry, Detective? _I_ feel like having a meal right about now."

       "In that case, thank you once again…"

       "Donghyuk."

       "…Donghyuk-ssi."

       "Just Donghyuk," Donghyuk grins, leading the detective to the dining lounge. "And there will be an after-hours surcharge, so don't be too grateful."

       It's very brief and almost fleeting, but when Donghyuk turns around he sees Junhwe's lips curl into a smile. It's nice. It suits him, Donghyuk thinks. And, inevitably, his heart flutters.

 

*

 

"Did you want anything in particular, Detective?"

       After two weeks, Donghyuk is familiar with the preferences of Detective Song and Detective Jung. The former likes Italian. The younger, on top of having low spice toleration, sheepishly asked Donghyuk a few days ago if it was possible to add fast food onto the diner's non-existent menu. However, Donghyuk virtually has no idea when it comes to their team leader. In the two weeks since the squad were called in from Seoul, Junhwe had visited the diner in the evening only once. For some reason Donghyuk remembers this moment clearly. He was wiping a bowl in the kitchen, dancing around to the radio, when Junhwe walked in and asked if the diner was still open. He'd gone as far as getting seated at a table. Donghyuk went back inside to get a glass of water for him, but when he came back out Junhwe had received a phone call and then left in a hurry.

       Talking about phones, the first thing Junhwe does after sitting on the bar stool is reach into his pocket for his phone. He places the device faced down on the bar table. "Anything would be fine. Whatever's the easiest to make, I guess."

       "How does fried rice sound?" Donghyuk pulls out ingredients from the refrigerator and heats up a frying pan. "Anything you want in particular? Anything you don't want? You're not allergic to anything are you, Detective? I wouldn't want to accidentally poison you. You're still quite important to Sangdong, I'm afraid."

       For all his sharp features and the dark, stony expressions that cross over them, when coupled with his stature and broad shoulders making him the precise Tall, Handsome, and Mysterious Detective swooned over in films, Junhwe, in the wrinkled white shirt he wore under his coat, simply looks more like an exhausted office worker underneath the soft, golden bar lights. "No, I'm fine with anything. Just cook whatever suits you."

       Donghyuk can't decide whether the detective is just incredibly polite or incredibly passive. "Have you had a chance to try our prawns yet, Detective?"

       "No, I haven't."

       "Oh? Then you must!" Donghyuk exclaims, heading back to the refrigerator. "It's the town's speciality. My brother came back yesterday and brought a big box, fresh from the sea." Donghyuk brings a pot of water to boil, and adds the final touches to the pan of fried rice. "Once you try prawns in Sangdong, you'll understand how prawns are _meant_ to taste. That's what my brother likes to say. But he's also a diehard Sangdong supremacist, which is ironic because he spends more of his time not in town." Donghyuk puts a handful of prawns one by one into the bubbling water. "So, you can decide for yourself on this. But I personally think it's worth the hype. The prawns."

       Donghyuk is thankful he coerced Junhwe into eating. He lied earlier. He's not hungry at all. But Junhwe clearly is; the way he starts shovelling the fried rice into his mouth after Donghyuk places the steaming plate before him tells all. Donghyuk slides a chair from behind the bar to sit across the detective, and as he watches him eat he starts to feel sorry. He can't explain why, but he does.

       "How is it?"

       "It's really good. Thank you."

       "You're very polite, Detective." Donghyuk smiles warmly. "Detective Song and Detective Jung warned me about this."

       "… What else did they say about me?"

       "That you are a very good, reliable leader. And you are very intelligent."

       The detective's plain expression shifts into a slight grin. "They knew I'd ask, those bastards." His eyes flicker up to meet Donghyuk's. "Oh, I'm sorry. Language."

       Donghyuk laughs. "I also heard your perceptiveness is unrivalled."

       Junhwe shakes his head in embarrassment. "They're lying."

       "No, I believe them. Try once on me."

       It takes a second, but Donghyuk can visibly see Junhwe giving in. He sighs a little and leans back in his seat. "You're a graduate. You moved away to study, my guess is Seoul. You majored in a humanities subject. Maybe literature? Or ancient history. It was something you studied out of passion." Junhwe's eyes roam over the wall above the bar where Donghyuk's family photos are framed. "You have a good relationship with your family. They are an important part of your life and you would always put them before yourself. Which is the reason you came back here after graduating. Your older brother is a fisherman, he's never in town, so you decided to take over managing the family motel so your elderly parents can retire comfortably.

       "And as for you… you're amiable, sociable, love the company of others, more optimistic than pessimistic, and a big romantic."

       Donghyuk can only stare at the detective with a funny expression.

       "How far off am I?"

       "Not _too_ far, actually. It's just the part about the motel. I returned to Sangdong on my own terms; it didn't have anything to do with my family, really."

       "Oh - yeah. That part was a complete guess."

       "Fair enough." Donghyuk nods understandingly. "Okay… I have to ask: what about the last bit. About being romantic. Is that another complete guess?"

       Junhwe shakes his head. "You read from an ancient poetry anthology every night while you wait to close the front desk. Joseon romance poems. There's a bookmark that never moves, so you can keep going back to re-read your favourite one."

      Above all, Donghyuk should be incredibly impressed by the detective's observation skills, but as Junhwe speaks all Donghyuk pays attention to is the steadiness of his voice, the small confident smiles in between his words.

       The detectives were the talk of the entire town the moment they arrived. The locals in Sangdong have a certain expectation of police from Seoul, which apparently comes from an experience an odd decade or so ago. Cold, unfriendly, too technologically adept, and probably too fashionable as well. The technologically adept one is Chanwoo, and the fashionable one would be Yunhyeong. Which left Donghyuk to wonder whether Junhwe must be the cold and unfriendly one.

       He's really not, Donghyuk realises. It takes a bit of work, Donghyuk admits, but after having a conversation or two, he's a lot less frigid than he appears. At that point, Donghyuk makes it his personal mission to befriend the detective.

       "Uh… Donghyuk-ssi?"

       The first thing to overcome is this incessant politeness, but Donghyuk bites back a comment. "Yes?"

       Junhwe points to the stove. "The pot is overflowing…"

       Oh shit, yes. The prawns.

       The prawns are too overcooked to taste as good as they do at their prime. Hanbin would say something completely blindsided like even overcooked, Sangdong prawns are still the best, but Donghyuk knows better. It is 1:49am and they sit alone in the diner, peeling prawns and dipping them in chilli sauce. Donghyuk will learn one day in the future that Junhwe doesn't like seafood.  However, right now, there's no way he can tell, with Junhwe putting prawn after prawn in his mouth and saying that it tastes delicious.

       Donghyuk feels elated, and maybe it's a sign that he's in trouble, but nevertheless it strikes him that this moment, everything about it, is absolutely charming.

**Author's Note:**

> I wish my baby a happy, happy birthday. You are wonderful, you are lovely, you are doing so well. Thank you for everything, and keep up the hard work. Much, much, much love to you.


End file.
